In most states when a child is born, the room is filled with pink or blue balloons and other items, depending on the gender of the child. In Alabama, the balloons are either crimson and white or blue and orange.
To say the identity of the state is tied to college football is an understatement.
Elementary school kids grow up choosing to color a picture of an elephant or a tiger. When meeting new people, “Alabama or Auburn?” is the third question asked after your name and where you are from. “Roll Tide” or “War Eagle” are either your first words, the names of the two family dogs or a part of a couple’s wedding vows. The house-divided bumper sticker used by families who have fans on both sides of the rivalry is so frequently seen, it can’t even be seen as cliché anymore and is just an accepted part of it all.
So with apologies to great rivalries such as Michigan vs. Ohio State, Navy vs. Army, Oklahoma vs. Texas, and Notre Dame vs. USC, the Iron Bowl is far and away the greatest rivalry in college football. And this year’s game looks like it will be one of the greatest of them all.
In one corner, you have the defending national champions, machine-like perfectionists in Alabama – a team that strives to dominate in all facets of the game, and nothing else seems satisfactory.
In the other corner, you have the last team not named Alabama to win a national championship in Auburn – a team that wins and comes through to win in so many close games, in such a large variety of ways you would think it was in Ireland with a stadium shaped like a horseshoe.
Alabama will be traveling to the Plains with a perfect 11-0 record, having not lost a road game since 2010. Auburn enters the game 10-1, having won five of its games by one score or less along with beating Georgia on a play that can only be described as the “Miracle on the Plains.”
The stakes have never been higher with not only the SEC West on the line, but with Alabama looking at a chance at a third straight national championship and Auburn with an outside shot as well as being able to end its bitter rival’s streak of dominance.
This far into the season Alabama knows its identity, and the keys to the game are simple. Auburn is a dominating rushing presence between running back Tre Mason and quarterback Nick Marshall, who has huge question marks in the passing game.
The Tigers defensive line can dominate the trenches and apply a lot of pressure, and the defense has a good but not great secondary, led by ball-hawk safety Robenson Therezie, that will make plays but also give up yards to great quarterbacks.
If Alabama can get a big lead early, then Auburn’s odds of coming back from behind are little to none. However, if the Tigers defensive line, led by a dominant senior defensive end Dee Ford, can hassle Alabama’s offensive line and slow down its offense like Mississippi State did, then the Tigers will have a real shot at doing what the Bulldogs couldn’t in Starkville.
This year’s Iron Bowl will be the first time since the SEC split the divisions in 1992 that the game will feature SEC championship implications for both teams. The last time the Iron Bowl featured two teams with one loss or less was in 1974.
Some people are calling it the most important game in Iron Bowl history. Are they right? It is too early to tell and too hard to really say. But the game Thanksgiving weekend will show why no rivalry in college football is as good or matters as much as the Iron Bowl.
